Apple iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C set for October launch in India

Apple is gearing up to launch its new iPhones – the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C – in India as early as this month. Rather than doing weekly roll-outs in new sets of countries, Apple this time announced only the first wave of launch countries where the phones were launched on September 20 and has remained uncharacteristically quiet since then. Apple is now preparing to launch the iPhones in an extended list of second wave countries, which are likely to be announced within a fortnight.

The India launch for the new iPhones was apparently revealed during a high-level meeting with some of the biggest retail chains in the country earlier in the week, where Apple also announced plans to increase its presence in the top 50 towns of the country. We do not have confirmation of the launch date, but October 25 is a date we have heard in the past and has cropped up repeatedly during conversations while confirming this report. This would mean that the launch happens a week before Diwali. We should be able to get a reconfirmation of the launch date soon.

Apple is expected to host an event on October 15 to unveil the new iPads where it could also possibly announce the second wave of countries where the new iPhone will launch. However, that’s assuming that Apple does have an event on October 15 and that the second wave is happening after October 15. We do not have confirmation of the pricing of the new iPhones at this point of time, though we can rest assured that the gold iPhone 5S would be severely limited.